JAIPUR, June 18, 2008: The 26-day-long Gujjar agitation may finally be called off with every indication that the Raje government has worked out a winning formula to pacify the agitators who were demanding ST status. Though a final announcement will be made on Wednesday, sources said  the government has promised the Gujjars 5% special reservation over and above the OBC quota.     Karwadi/Jaipur, June 12, 2008 (PTI): After two days of  deadlock, Gujjar leadership today agreed to resume talks with the Rajasthan government following grant of bail by a court to 25 arrested women, whose release was made a precondition by the community for the dialogue to begin in Jaipur.  Jaipur, June 09, 2008: The much-awaited official talks between the Rajasthan government and agitating Gujjar leaders over the community's demand for ST status began in Bayana in Bharatpur district of the desert state this afternoon, an official spokesman said. A two-member ministerial delegation comprising Mines Minister   PILUPURA/BAYANA, June 2, 2008: For the past five days, the state has witnessed rains, thunderstorm and dust storm but the unexpected change in the weather patterns has failed to deter the agitating Gujjars, who kept on sitting under the open sky with no shade or a house. It was the damaged tracks, which Gujjars held on, to survive the storms, each lesson only strengthening their bid to win. The agitators have set up a three-tier security ring of which first is to guard the 12 bodies holding the centre stage, the second one roaming around the vast field and the third (outer) layer keeping all unwanted intrusions at bay.   NEW DELHI, May 31, 2008: Rajasthan government on Saturday asked Director General of Police Amarjot Singh Gill to go on a long leave due to mishandling of the Gujjar crisis.  According to reports, KS Bains will now act as the new DGP. Till Friday, more than 42 people had lost their lives in the clashes between Gujjars and Rajasthan police.  GURGAON, May 29, 2008: Activists of the Ajit Singh-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) on Thursday blocked the Delhi- Jaipur highway at Narshingpur Chowk near here in support of the Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan. About 500 people including some women, led by INLD district president Anantram Tawar, squatted on the NH-8, forcing the traffic to come to a standstill.     GURGAON/JAIPUR, May 28, 2008: The Gujjar agitation for ST status on Wednesday spread to the National Capital Region (NCR) with protesters blocking traffic on certain key stretches as agitators forced shutdowns in several areas in Rajasthan.  New Delhi, May 27: The Centre on Tuesday night rejected  Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s demand for four to six percent special reservation for the agitating Gujjars.   Jaipur-Bayana, May  27, 2008 (PTI): Tension mounted as the five-day old Gujjar agitation spread to new areas in  Rajasthan on Tuesday amid reports of violence and traffic chaos on highways.   New Delhi, May 26, 2008 (PTI): Northern Railway today cancelled nine trains passing through Rajasthan and diverted several others to different routes due to the ongoing violent agitation by the Gujjar community.   Jaipur, May 25, 2008: 20 more dead in Sikndra in Dossa district, 80 km from Jaipur in Gujjar violent protests.    May 24, 2008:  Gujjar protestors in Rajasthan on Saturday refused to cremate those killed in police firing at Bayana on Friday. Prohibitory orders have been issued in six districts there after 15 Gujjars and a policeman were killed in violent Gujjar protests to press for ST status. Tension is high in Jaipur, Bharatpur, Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa and Karauli districts.   The Gujjars are refusing to cremate the dead until their demands are met. Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bhainsala has alleged that the state government has cheated the community. “Gujjars should be given the ST status. The letter written by the Indian Government to the Rajasthan Government needs to be elaborated and recommendation letters need to be sent. We are resolved on the issue. No one will move from here till our demands are met. We have been duped all along. We have also been subjected to bullets,” says Bhainsala.

June 18, 2008: Gujjar leader, Kirori Singh Bainsla, called it a "historic victory" and the government claimed that talks were successful.   "It is a historic decision for the state. I am much grateful to chief minister Vasundhara Raje and other BJP leaders  for taking the talks to a point where I can term it to be a successful one," Bainsla told reporters.    Gujjar violent protests continue in Rajasthan demand for ST status. Tension mounted as the  old Gujjar agitation spread to new areas in  Rajasthan amid reports of violence and traffic chaos on highways.       The violence began  when police shot four protesters dead in running battles with thousands of Gujjars, who had gathered on a main highway and blocked traffic.

Jaipur, May 23, 2008:  15 dead in Gujjars' ST status demand row. The incident took place when the rail blockade by over 3000 Gujjars turned violent.    The Army has been deployed in Bayana where the deaths occurred on Friday. Ten trains running through Bayana, on the Delhi-Mumbai route, have been cancelled. Twenty-two trains towards Mumbai have been diverted through Mathura and Agra. Road traffic too remains affected between Jaipur and Agra and in parts of Hindaun, Karauli and Swai Madhopur. There's report of a blockade at Behror on the Jaipur- Delhi route as well. Meanwhile, the Rajasthan government has ordered a judicial enquiry into the police firing on agitating Gujjars at Bayana.  On Friday, the incident took place when the rail blockade by over 3000 Gujjars turned violent. Police lobbed teargas shells to disperse Gujjars but it took a bloody turn.

Reservation/quota regime is weakening and fragmenting our society by every single day. The latest example is Gujjar protests/violance in Rajasthan ruled by the BJP.  The Indian army was deployed to restore order in the tourist hotspot of Rajasthan. About 25 people died since the start of the Gujjer agitation on Tuesday May 29, 2007. Most of the died people are the  members of the caste who are demanding to be socially downgraded in order to gain government jobs and university places.  The Gujjars are currently classified as Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and are entitled to quotas in state- run education centres and in government jobs. But the community wants to be listed under the Scheduled Tribe (ST)  category.                   Gujjars, who make up more than 10% of Rajasthan's 55 million people,  seeking special government treatment clashed with a competing caste on Friday, killing four people and taking the death toll to 30 in four days of riots. Tens of thousands of people have been stranded on highways or at railway stations in Rajasthan, a popular destination for foreign tourists, due to the wave of violent protests by ethnic Gujjars. Millions of Gujjars, spread across north and western India, want to be declared a Scheduled Tribe (ST) which entitles them to job and college quotas.

But Meenas, who oppose the granting of tribal status to the Gujjars fearing they will lose their own quota slice, clashed on Friday in eastern Rajasthan. At least four people were killed when Meenas tried to break a blockade by Gujjars, the first sign of a broader caste conflict erupting. Hundreds of soldiers armed with automatic weapons have been patrolling highways and violence-hit towns. The main highway linking New Delhi to Agra, home to the Taj Mahal, has been hit by the Gujjar protests.                                         The Indian government offers places in jobs, educational institutes and other privileges to people in three categories, as part of its affirmative action policy.   The communities listed as the Scheduled Castes (SCs) are essentially the lowest in the Hindu caste hierarchy locally referred to as Dalits.   The Scheduled Tribes (STs) are the people living in the forests or on the hills, physically isolated from modern life, but are not necessarily socially backward.   The Other Backward Classes (OBCs) comprise the castes - in the middle of the Hindu caste hierarchy - who do not face so much exclusion or isolation in society but are educationally and economically backward.   The identification of communities in the three categories is based on a data prepared in 1935 by the British when they ruled India.   In theory, it is possible for a caste or community to have its status reviewed. But it is a very complex issue and the power for such a review vests solely with the central government. Experts say the criteria for identification of castes and groups in the different categories is not transparent at all. That has resulted in confusion for the various communities clamoring  to be added to or taken off the lists.    In 1999, the government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) included the Jat community on its OBC list. The Jats are a relatively prosperous community in Rajasthan who form nearly 15% of the state's population. Once Jats were identified as OBCs , the Gujjars who were already placed in the OBC category felt threatened. They felt the better-off Jats would corner the benefits of reservation.    The demand by the Gujjars is also fuelled by the success of the Meenas, a large community in the state who were granted ST status in 1954.  The Meenas were basically a borderline case who used their political influence to be classified as STs. The community has benefited immensely in the last 50 years under the reservation policy. The Gujjars are now trying to put pressure on political parties to allow them to reap similar benefits.

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